We're revisiting the murder of Mary Ann Bickford on Oct. 27, 1845. Her paramour Albert J. Tirrell was eventually charged with murder. Tirrell hired Rufus Choate to defend him, and Choate claimed his client had episodes of somnambulism.

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We're revisiting the murder of Mary Ann Bickford on Oct. 27, 1845. Her paramour Albert J. Tirrell was eventually charged with murder. Tirrell hired Rufus Choate to defend him, and Choate claimed his client had episodes of somnambulism. Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com</a>

Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.

Stuff You Missed in History Class

We're revisiting the murder of Mary Ann Bickford on Oct. 27, 1845. Her paramour Albert J. Tirrell was eventually charged with murder. Tirrell hired Rufus Choate to defend him, and Choate claimed his client had episodes of somnambulism.

SYMHC Classics: Albert J. Tirrell, the First Sleepwalking Killer

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/d480accc-1c6e-4560-8ed2-ae2800580617/transcript

This 2020 episode covers one of the transitional events between the Black Death and the Renaissance. Wat Tyler’s Rebellion was also known as the Uprising of 1381 or the Great Rising.

This 2020 episode covers one of the transitional events between the Black Death and the Renaissance. Wat Tyler&rsquo;s Rebellion was also known as the Uprising of 1381 or the Great Rising.

SYMHC Classics: Wat Tyler’s Rebellion

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/c3dbb43b-2e5d-4d71-ac11-b2fb0185e4f4/transcript

Holly and Tracy talk about Tracy growing up in a mostly Protestant community with little exposure to Catholicism. They also talk about the Gorsuch family's ties to John Wilkes Booth. 

Holly and Tracy talk about Tracy growing up in a mostly Protestant community with little exposure to Catholicism. They also talk about the Gorsuch family's ties to John Wilkes Booth.&nbsp;

Behind the Scenes Minis: Pope Riot

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/b02902f6-7a21-49fa-9ca7-b2fa0168ff98/transcript

The Christiana Incident offers a snapshot of the U.S. when the country was sorting into states where slavery was upheld and states that had abolished it, and what racist tension looked like at border states in the mid-1850s.

Research:
“The Christiana Affair Again.” New York Times. Sept. 20, 1851. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1851/09/20/87821677.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
“Christiana Resistance 1851.” Christiana Historical Society. https://www.christianahistoricalsociety.com/christiana-resistance
“The Christiana Trials.” New York Times. Nov. 4, 1851. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1851/11/04/87823549.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Fugitive Slave Acts". Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Fugitive-Slave-Acts
“Fatal Fugitive Slave Riot.” Boston Evening Transcript. Sept. 12, 1851. https://www.newspapers.com/image/734734274/
Forbes, David R. “A True Story of the Christiana Riot.” The Sun Printing House. Quarryville, PA. 1898. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044018986661&view=1up&seq=7
“Fugitive Slave Act 1850.” Yale Law School. Lillian Goldman Law Library. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/fugitive.asp
“Fugitive Slave Riot in Lancaster Co., Pa.” New York Times. Sept. 18, 1851. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1851/09/18/109920970.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
“Christiana Riot Trial.” Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. 2015. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/christiana-riot-trial/#national-history-day
Parker, William. “A Freedman’s Story. The Atlantic. 1866. https://www.christianahistoricalsociety.com/_files/ugd/f64fcb_e6cde1713eb34263af1f191b3f349e21.pdf
“Who was William Parker?” Christiana Historical Society. https://www.christianahistoricalsociety.com/william-parker

 

The Christiana Incident offers a snapshot of the U.S. when the country was sorting into states where slavery was upheld and states that had abolished it, and what racist tension looked like at border states in the mid-1850s.
Research:
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;The Christiana Affair Again.&rdquo; New York Times. Sept. 20, 1851. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1851/09/20/87821677.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&amp;ip=0</li>
<li>&ldquo;Christiana Resistance 1851.&rdquo; Christiana Historical Society. https://www.christianahistoricalsociety.com/christiana-resistance</li>
<li>&ldquo;The Christiana Trials.&rdquo; New York Times. Nov. 4, 1851. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1851/11/04/87823549.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&amp;ip=0</li>
<li>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Fugitive Slave Acts".&nbsp;Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Fugitive-Slave-Acts</li>
<li>&ldquo;Fatal Fugitive Slave Riot.&rdquo; Boston Evening Transcript. Sept. 12, 1851. https://www.newspapers.com/image/734734274/</li>
<li>Forbes, David R. &ldquo;A True Story of the Christiana Riot.&rdquo; The Sun Printing House. Quarryville, PA. 1898. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044018986661&amp;view=1up&amp;seq=7</li>
<li>&ldquo;Fugitive Slave Act 1850.&rdquo; Yale Law School. Lillian Goldman Law Library. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/fugitive.asp</li>
<li>&ldquo;Fugitive Slave Riot in Lancaster Co., Pa.&rdquo; New York Times. Sept. 18, 1851. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1851/09/18/109920970.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&amp;ip=0</li>
<li>&ldquo;Christiana Riot Trial.&rdquo; Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. 2015. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/christiana-riot-trial/#national-history-day</li>
<li>Parker, William. &ldquo;A Freedman&rsquo;s Story. The Atlantic. 1866. https://www.christianahistoricalsociety.com/_files/ugd/f64fcb_e6cde1713eb34263af1f191b3f349e21.pdf</li>
<li>&ldquo;Who was William Parker?&rdquo; Christiana Historical Society. https://www.christianahistoricalsociety.com/william-parker</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;

The Christiana Incident offers a snapshot of the U.S. when the country was sorting into states where slavery was upheld and states that had abolished it, and what racist tension looked like at border states in the mid-1850s.

Christiana Incident of 1851

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/a5c4bc58-8120-49f2-85e1-b2f900df4cf5/transcript

SYMHC Classics: Albert J. Tirrell, the First Sleepwalking Killer

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